The Gulf countries are suffering in the current war on Iran. The security situation has become so dire that leaks have surfaced of Gulf officials pondering military action against Iran.
How can a region full of military bases, personnel and hardware, manned by the military might of America be so vulnerable to attacks?
From October 2024, and through 2025, the U.S. began actively redeploying air defense systems, specifically the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot batteries, from Gulf nations to Israel following the escalation between Israel and Iran.
In October 2024, President Biden ordered a THAAD battery and its crew to be moved to Israel to bolster its defenses.
By August 2025, the U.S. had redeployed a THAAD battery previously stationed in Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Israel to support their missile shield against Iranian threats.
This relocation represented a major strategic shift, leading to complaints from regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia, that the U.S. was prioritizing Israeli security over Gulf state defenses.
The U.S. had previously withdrawn Patriot systems from Saudi Arabia in 2021 before moving to replenish them in 2022, only for regional focus to shift back to Israel in 2024/2025.
In August 2025, Israel hosted up to six THAAD batteries drawn from the American global pool, marking a concentration of U.S. air defenses in Israel amid dwindling U.S. interceptor supplies.
In July 2025, the U.S. asked Saudi Arabia to send its missile interceptors to Israel during the conflict with Iran.
In August 2025, a Saudi official said, "US abandoned us and redirected its air defense to protect Israel." The move left all the Gulf states that host American bases at risk.
As early as 1991, U.S. military personnel have operated the Patriot air defense system in Israel.
Saudi Arabia spends a great deal on defense and has not yet developed a domestic production. The Kingdom buys most of its defense materials from the U.S. in an agreement where Saudi petrodollars are forced into the American economy buying inferiorly made weapons, but at top prices.
Saudi Arabia avoids purchasing major Russian air defense systems (like the S-400) to prevent U.S. sanctions under CAATSA, avoid damaging their strategic military alliance with Washington, and to ensure defense systems are interoperable with existing Western technologies.
Several Gulf countries, particularly those that normalized relations through the Abraham Accords, purchase defense materials from Israel. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a key partner, having signed a $2.3 billion deal for Israeli Elbit Systems defense tech and engaging in joint, localized military production
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) fields batteries of two different Israeli and one South Korean medium-range SAM systems.
U.S. bases don't protect the Gulf
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